2-Year-Old Boy Killed by Alligator at Disney

In a heart wrenching story, a two-year-old boy was snatched by an alligator at Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Tuesday night and dragged into the Seven Seas Lagoon. The boy's father attempted to wrestle the boy away from the alligator, but was unsuccessful.

The search for a toddler who was snatched by an alligator at a Walt Disney World lake turned to a recovery effort on Wednesday, as police announced that there was no hope the boy could have survived.

The two-year-old boy - who has not been identified - was attacked while wading in about a foot of water outside the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa Tuesday night. The Seven Seas Lagoon behind the upscale hotel is off limits to guests, and there are 'no swimming' signs posted nearby - but none of them warned about possible alligators in the water.

The boy's father witnessed the attack and ran into the water to save his son, but was unsuccessful in wrestling the boy from the four- to seven-foot gator, whose razor-sharp teeth left him with lacerations on his arms.

At an afternoon press conference, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said that rescue efforts had been called off and that emergency personnel are now only looking to recover the boy's body. Demings expressed his condolences for the family, and said that his team would be making every effort to find the boy's body soon so that they could have some closure.

Since the incident, more than 50 emergency personnel have been scouring the lake, searching for the boy by helicopter and in boats outfitted with sonar technology. Dive teams were also brought in to search underwater. Meanwhile, Walt Disney World resort officials closed all of the beaches at their resorts, and a spokesman says they are working with law enforcement in what they are describing as a 'tragic accident'.

In a couple of trips I've made to Florida in the past two years, I've noticed alligators at the various resorts my family has stayed at all well.

As for Disney, workers reportedly remove alligators and then relocate them if they get to close to guest areas.

I can't even imagine what the father must be going through at this point. However, perhaps this is a lesson to those of us with children, and that is to always be mindful of wild animals when we vacation in areas like Central Florida.

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